A Deathbed Story and Promise
by chocoluvr
Summary: On his grandfather's deathbed, seven year old Neville Longbottom is told a different story, then the regular Boy Who Lived stories. He also promises his grandfather not to repeat the story to any of his classmates when he started school.


**Author's Disclaimer**: I don't own Harry Potter.

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On a bright sunny May afternoon, a seven year old boy was sitting with his dying grandfather; his only father figure since his own father was seriously sick. He couldn't live with them but instead lived at the hospital where the boy got to visit him on occasion.

"Did I ever tell you the story about two little boys?" his grandfather asked him.

"No grandpa," replied the boy whose name was Neville.

"Well, then I guess I better tell you, before I die," his grandfather sighed heavily.

"You're not going to die!" Neville exclaimed, frightened at the very notion.

"I'll die someday; we all die eventually but you'll need to promise me that you'll look after your grandma and parents once I'm gone," his grandfather said.

"I will," Neville promised.

"Now for the story. This was told to me by one of the little boy's parents.

"Once upon a time, there was a very bad wizard who wanted to get rid of any witch or wizard who wasn't of pure blood or who disagreed with him. He even had followers who believed strongly in what he was preaching. He even hurt muggles and muggle-borns very badly, even killing them.

"One day, a seer made a prediction that the one who would destroy him would be born at the end of July in that year to parents who had stood up to him and won three times. There were two possible candidates who fit that description and they both had baby boys born at the end of July.

"The two sets of parents and their children tried to hide from this very bad wizard. They were very fortunate that the two sets of parents were warned about their babies being in danger. Both families were successful at hiding from the bad man for a while.

"Disaster struck on Halloween when both babies were just over a year old. The bad man tried to kill one of the baby boys.

"Fortunately, he was unsuccessful in this task. Instead, he killed both of the parents. It turned out that the little boy's father's best friend gave up their hiding place to the very bad wizard," Neville's grandfather finished.

"Is this another Harry Potter story that Gran always keeps on telling me?" Neville asked skeptically. "What happened to the other baby boy? Did he get to live with his parents happily ever after?"

Neville's grandfather looked at him, knowing that he needed to tell his young grandson the truth right before he died.

"Yes, it is about Harry. After this grave misfortune, everyone thought that they would be safe from those wicked wizards, for the leader of the bad wizards had gone into hiding. But about a month after Harry survived, some of the bad wizard's followers tried to bring him back. They went after the other little boy's parents in the middle of the night.

"They wanted them to reveal the whereabouts of the bad wizard. The couple didn't know where he was, so they were hurt really bad when they were found about a month later," his grandfather explained.

"Were they hurt bad like my mummy and daddy?" Neville asked.

"Yes" his grandfather replied.

Then a look of recognition appeared on young Neville's face, "Was I the other boy? Could it of been me who defeated the bad wizard?" Neville inquired.

"Yes," his grandfather replied.

"Is that why Gran always looks like she's disappointed in me?" Neville asked sullenly.

"She was happy at first when the other little boy became The Boy Who Lived, but after your parents' accident she wished that you were the one who defeated him, so that your parents wouldn't be hurt. We don't know if they hurt you or not," he answered.

The old man paused for awhile as he coughed loudly, and then continued on. "I want you to promise me that you would never tell any of your classmates about this, especially Harry Potter when you go off to Hogwarts,"

He gave his boy a sad look. Neville could pick up on Augusta's disappointment in him and he didn't like it.

A few minutes later, his grandfather closed his eyes and couldn't wake up… even for his beloved grandson.

"Grandpa?" Neville looked at his long-time guardian for any signs of life.

Realizing the worst had happened, he cried, "Gran, grandpa won't wake up!"

His grandmother came into the room. Her husband of forty years had just died. She also realized that she was to raise her grandson alone, plus take care of Frank and Alice.

Gran told him that he was supposed to honor deathbed promises. He didn't remember much of what happened next, but he always kept his grandfather's requests.

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**Author's Note**: Please read and review. 


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